Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development

✍ Scribed by Rob Vos; Diana Alarcón (editors)

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2015
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 233
• Series: The United Nations Series on Development
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Continuation along current development pathways is not sustainable. Available technology and production practices and the consumption patterns of modern societies are leading to global warming and ecological destruction. Business as usual is not an option. There is an urgent need to find a new development paradigm that ensures environmental sustainability while managing to provide, now and in the future, a decent livelihood for all of humankind.
In Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development, experts in the area provide a variety of insights about the technical transformation needed for sustainable development. It spells out the behavioural and policy changes that would need to accompany the next technological transformation, taking into account the complexity of inducing technological change in the energy and agricultural sectors. The assessment suggests that this will require major, but doable improvements in national innovation systems and major, but affordable shifts in investment patterns and related macroeconomic adjustments.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
Illustrations
Preface
About the Editors
About the Contributors
Abbreviations
1 Introduction: The Imperative of Sustainable Development
Abbreviations
Business as usual is not an option
A transformative technological revolution is needed
This book
Are green energy investments affordable?
2 A New Philosophical Approach to Social Transformation for a “Green Economy”
Context
Chasing progress
Limits to growth
Making room for growth
The dilemma of growth
The arithmetic of growth
The dynamics of transformation
Steps toward the green economy
Green economy and sustainable development
3 Historical Characteristics and Scenario Analysis of Technological Change in the Energy System
Introduction
Historical dynamics of technological change in the energy system
Scenario representations of future technological change
Implications for clean energy technology and innovation policy
Conclusions
4 Clean Energy for Sustainable Development
A major technological transformation in energy is needed for sustainable development
Are current efforts in the right direction? Are they enough?
The limitations of current approaches to the energy transformation challenge
Moving forward
Conclusion
5 Achieving Sustainable Development:
Introduction
Policy, technology, and energy investments for sustainability
Public policies for development
Conclusion
6 Key Determinants of Technological Capabilities for a “Green Economy” in Emerging Economies
Introduction
Environmental technological capabilities in emerging economies: The case of China
Technology transfer, indigenous R&D, and technical progress
National innovation system and technology acquisition, adaptation, and development
Conclusion
7 How to Feed the World and Save the Planet
Summary
The twin perils of global food insecurity and environmental degradation
Current efforts to promote sustainable agriculture among small-scale farmers
National strategies for food security and sustainable agriculture
Index